2018 Vintage Report
Vintage Report 2018
- Very dry growing season
- Mild season temperature wise with cool nights
- Basically no rain during the harvest period
- Harvest started in line with most vintages over the past 15 years with chardonnay being picked first at the start of March
- Very good canopy growth in the vines with average to slightly above average crops
- Harvest dates 28th Feb (Chardonnay) to 30th April (Mourvedre and Touriga)
A very wet 3 months from July – September 2017 set the vines up for very good spring growth. Fine weather during November lead to good flowering and hence average to above average crops on the vines. From October 2017 to May 2018 rainfall was below average across each month and daily temperatures were cooler than usual leading to a mild season with lovely cool evenings.
Harvest started with the Chardonnay on the 28th February and finished with the Mourvedre and Touriga National on the 30th April. The annual red gum blossom was strong and kept the birds away while harvesting the whites. We purchased 5 Ha of nets for the reds to keep the birds off and they did a great job reducing the amount of bird damage.
At the time of writing, the Rieslings (Isolation Ridge, Poison Hill and Estate) are blended and tucked away in full tanks with some lees to mature and relax on over the coming months. The Chardonnay and Alter Weg Riesling are in barrel on full solids unsulfured at this stage.
The dry conditions allowed a very measured and considered intake for the red varietals all of which are in barrel for maturation. It was also a great year for the later ripening varietals such as Mourvedre and excitingly for the very first crop of Touriga National. All reds enjoyed the mild weather, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon had some lovely hang time providing reds with great depth and complexity.
This vintage we took receipt of our first large format shiraz barrel (3,500Ltrs) which aims to allow the elegance and origins of our shiraz speak even louder, an exciting evolution in our approach to this variety.